UN stumbles over climate crisis and conflict resolution

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 26 - "It has been 19 months since a permanent member of the Security Council unleashed a war of aggression against its neighbouring country, violating the principles of the UN Charter and international law", said Bulgaria's president Rumen Radev, addressing the UN General Assembly.
    More than 60 countries took part in the Security Council meeting. Zelenskyy called for an expansion of the Security Council with permanent seats for Africa, Asia and Germany. He then relaunched his 10-point peace plan, reiterating as a precondition Russia's withdrawal and the re-establishment of borders before the 2014 invasion of Crimea.
    Poland opposes Germany gaining a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said. There are 193 UN member states in total. Five countries have permanent seats on the Security Council: the US, China, Russia, Britain and France, who can veto all decisions.
    Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan accused the international community of inaction following Azerbaijan's military operation to take control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, mainly inhabited by Armenians. Speaking at the United Nations General Debate in New York on Saturday, Mirzoyan called for a UN mission to "monitor and assess the human rights, humanitarian and security situation on the ground".
    Nagorno-Karabakh is in Azerbaijani territory, but the majority of residents are Armenian and control of the region has long been contested between the two ex-Soviet republics. Last Tuesday, the authoritarian-led Azerbaijan launched a military operation to seize the region. Only one day later, the defeated Karabakh Armenians surrendered.
    2030 SDGs moving closer On a more positive note, several EU countries have demonstrated their commitment to achieving the 2030 SDGs and the progress they have made so far.
    The 193 member countries of the United Nations have adopted a declaration to reaffirm their commitment to the stalled Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The text was adopted unanimously, the day before the start of the UN General Assembly's General Debate, which saw speeches by leaders from across the world.
    The 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted unanimously by world leaders in 2015, and they serve as guidelines for more global sustainability, equality and prosperity. The goals include eradication of poverty and hunger, improving health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth.
    Spain is diligent in the race to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It occupies 16th place in the classification drawn up in the 2023 Sustainable Development Report. Despite this, the authors of the classification warn that, for the moment, Spain has not managed to exceed any objective, but it is in the process of doing so, for example, in terms of gender equality, health and well-being, green energy, and cheap and sustainability of towns and cities.
    According to the report, Croatia ranks 12th of the 166 evaluated UN members. Croatian President Zoran Milanović said that Croatia was making progress with regard to the green transition and that it planned to increase the share of renewables in electricity consumption to 73.6 percent by 2030.
    The President of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová, noted that international efforts in the field of meeting Sustainable Development Goals have been partially slowed down by crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but this can't be used as an excuse.
    She stated that 85 percent of electricity in Slovakia is produced with zero emissions, and the country will use 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the next seven years on decarbonising the economy and increasing the use of renewable energy sources.
    Romania has already achieved 62 percent of its national targets for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, President Klaus Iohannis said. He mentioned that Romania "has made significant progress on the SDGs related to environmental protection and limiting climate change", facilitated by strong regional partnerships and by the involvement of multilateral institutions.
    Despite this momentum, more needs to be done, as Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar argued. She said it was disastrous that the goals were being implemented so slowly. She said things needed to be shifted up a gear if the world is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, for example.
    (The content of this article is based on news by agencies participating in the enr, in this case AFP, Agerpres, ANSA, BTA, dpa, EFE, HINA, STA, TASR) (ANSA).